Ephemeral

“even
in the loneliest moments

i have been there
for myself.”

― Sanober Khan

A few hours before we headed back to the city, I found myself standing in front of an empty paddy field looking at the horizon. I was blinded by the striking image.

Our crew was wrapping up and we were instructed to go back to the vehicle so as not to get caught in the traffic. The sun has just set, and the sky was bursting with an assortment of striking colors. There were blue and red, a tinge of magenta, yellow, orange but mostly a splash of fiery colors. For some seconds, everything looked like the surrounding was buttered in golden yellow. I did not budge from where I stood. I took my camera and did a time lapse.

One of the crew members was shouting my name asking me to hurry up! But I stood on my ground. I couldn’t let go.

I stayed until the colors were gone. It was a few minutes, and they were gone. The horizon darkened without a trace of what were there a few minutes ago.

One of the crew was in a bad mood. But I was smiling the whole time we were traveling. It was too beautiful to let it pass. Life is too beautiful to just let it pass.

Cosmos are cosmic!

Once, when I was in Korea, a friend brought us to a flower festival in Jeongeup City, a two-hour drive from Jeonju. To be honest, I was not expecting much. I am not a fan of flowers. I like to photograph them but that’s about it.

But when we arrive in Jeongeup and saw the field of cosmos, I felt like a kid who was offered a big, sweet, yummy lollipop! My friend’s initial instinct was to approach, smell and admire each one of them. I, on one hand, took a camera and thought of every frame I could exhaust to capture the moment. I did try smelling the cosmos afterward. It smells “peace” – I could be wrong but I have associated its smell with the lavender, which I doubt if anyone would agree. I love the smell of lavender. It gives me this unexplainable peace. I just love them.

 

Cosmos can be a little floppy and unruly. A girl would love a rose or a tulip but I would appreciate cosmos, a field of them. Their stalks are stubborn, they are not easy to pick. They are not much fun to be around in single but when you have them in bundles or in groups, they explode in goodness. I feel their essence. They are stellar!

Literally, when I saw a bed of cosmos, my heart explodes so much so that I didn’t want to leave the place.

A Book Street in Busan

This is like “heaven on earth”, an alley lined with crammed bookshops of all kinds.

During the Korean War, when Busan became the provisional capital, refugees sold and bought books to make a living. This place became a go-to place to buy and sell used books before the publishing industry was fully established and people had higher standards of living.

Now, Bosu-dong Book Street is a famous book street wherein you can buy used and rare books. Prices of books are scaled according to the conditions of the book or bargaining. There are English titles but you need to be a little patient scavenging them from these heaps. I was happy to get two books before I headed back to Jeonju, Gabriel García Márquez ’s Love in the Time of Cholera and Shin Kyung-sook’s Please Look After Mom (in Hangul).

Hanok Village

If there is one place in Jeonju that I will never get tired of going, it has to be  Hanok Maeul (한옥마을). This place is Jeonju’s historic center and a major attraction for tourists. It is known for its elegant, sloping slate roofs. Hanok are the traditional houses of the Korean upper class while maeul means village. There are over 800 traditional Korean hanok houses maintaining Jeonju’s historical charms and traditions.

Last Saturday, I went there for the fourth time to take photos of this amazing village. I’ve taken so many shots of this place in so many angles, but this is my favorite…a shot from the terrace of Jeonmang Cafe (전망). One is able to enjoy this splendid view while sipping a piping hot mug of Cafe Americano.

Saudades

Certain places, certain people, certain times make an indelible impact on our lives.  We know them when they come and lament them when they are gone.  If we are lucky then we have some pictures in our minds, if we are luckier we might also have the odd one or two in photograph.

This luck is counter-balanced sometimes by the flood of memories that can be elicited from the picture(s) we have.  They render everyday routine to a sense of drudgery and ourselves more dissatisfied with our lot than we otherwise might be.  This malaise will pass and we will smile again on the recollections we have.

But something of the saudades will always be there because once something, or someone, has got under your skin like that you are never the same person again.

A place called Jeonju

I am on my third week in Jeonju and the place is slowly becoming more familiar, the coffeeshops in every corner,  the almost empty streets even though it’s rush hour, the e-mart that closes every second Sunday, the acquiescent look of people.

If you don’t speak the language (like me), Jeonju can be a resolute place for you. It’s hard to start a conversation and even harder to sustain one. It’s like singing a very familiar song and finding out later that you’re the only one who knows the lyrics. I live my days practically trying hard to mime everything when I am conversing with a local.Eating in a restaurant is even harder. My knowledge in Hangul is as basic as knowing what common books have to offer to foreigners who are desperate in getting both the accent and the pronunciation right.

Jeonju, which is four hours away from the capital city of Korea, is like a mix of both the fast-paced life of the metropolis and the placidness feel of living in the countryside. There’s more streets than there’s more people. Walking around the area becomes a pleasure especially at night when the wind is cold.

The Girl Who Chased the Moon

“Tell me the story about how the sun loved the moon so much he died every night to let her breathe.”

I chased the moon for three nights in Iloilo City. Every night, I made a snap to record what it looked like, its color, its brightness, its mood. Most of these were taken from the hotel where we stayed during the APEC Meeting. Some where taken during a short stroll at the Iloilo River Esplanade.

During the last three days that I was documenting the moon, I realized one funny thing. People would find it strange seeing a girl with a long lens in the middle of a street staring at the moon with so much focus. Literally, my surrounding shuts down when I am staring at the moon. At that moment, it’s just me and the moon.  I don’t see anyone. I don’t hear anyone. I didn’t even notice how beautiful the river at the esplanade was. Or I think I did, I just did not bother.

By the way, on the fourth day, just as we were about to leave the city, it rained.

embrace

because some feelings
sometimes,

are just there
to teach us.

or not.

in most cases,
it’s there

to simply embrace
us.

A Brief Encounter with Sammy Hart

When I am in a foreign country, I would see to it that I do either one of these three things: 1) watch a movie, 2) attend a photo exhibit, or 3) visit a museum. Of course, this is ideal if you are a tourist and you have all the time in the world. I went to Katowice mainly to attend a conference and there is a slight chance of sightseeing during the duration of the conference unless of course if I chose to “cut class” which I couldn’t do because I was with my boss.

Luckily though, the organizer of the conference had arranged several cultural visits on the side. One was a visit to the National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the ambassador of Polish culture on the international artistic scene. Anwyay, originally, we were there to hear a woodwind quintet performance or something which would start later of the day. As we were walking inside the orchestra, I saw a Sammy Hart exhibit at the lobby and instantly I went there to see it.

Sammy Hart is a German-based photographer. He’s into portraitures in many genres. I am not well-versed with all his works but the thought of seeing a photo exhibit was exhilarating.  His exhibit was a product of his visit to Katowice while he was taking photos of Isabelle Faust and some musicians inside the orchestra house. Faust is a famous German violinist. All exhibited photos were taken between March 12-14, 2015.

Going back to my “not-so-familiar” view

This was taken in 2012, during an extended trip to Rome. I stood by the top of the Piazzale Giuseppe Garibaldi, enjoying an awesome view of the city. On my left was a couple kissing, unmindful of an Asian girl who was gawking at them; and on my right was my friend enjoying the same view while smoking. I returned my focus on the cityscape and inhaled the cold air brushing my face. It was during this time that I whispered to myself, “I shall return. If not here, somewhere in Europe!”

Three years forward…I will be returning to Europe.

I got the approval from our big boss to attend a conference in Katowice, Poland. We’ll probably catch a short trip to Prague before heading to the University of Hohenheim in Germany. I just got my visa a few minutes ago. Today is such an awesome day! 🙂